MoveOn.org, ColorOfChange.org and NAS to Protest FOX's Racism in NYC

Posted by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet at 5:00 PM on July 22, 2008.

Editor's Note: We just got this press release from our friends at MoveOn.org. If you're in New York, see you there.

Hip hop star Nas will join members of ColorOfChange.org & MoveOn.org on Wednesday to deliver 620,127 petition signatures demanding that FOX end its pattern of racist attacks against Black Americans including presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. The group will make the delivery at 2:00pm on Wednesday, July 23rd at FOX in Manhattan.

Over the last several weeks, FOX has had a string of incidents that many believe are a veiled attempt to prey on racism and intolerance and cast the Obamas as "outsiders": an on-screen graphic referred to Mrs. Obama as "Obama's baby mama," a pundit "confused" Obama with Osama and then joked they should both be assassinated, and an anchor called a loving fist bump between Barack and Michelle a "terrorist fist jab." In February, Bill O'Reilly talked about calling a "lynching party" to deal with Michelle.

The signatures were gathered online over the last month by ColorOfChange.org, a 450,000-member grassroots organization that focuses on issues of importance to the Black community. MoveOn.org and the Brave New Foundation also gathered signatures for the petition. In 2007, the groups led a successful campaign to stop the Congressional Black Caucus Institute from hosting a presidential debate on FOX. The debate was cancelled after major presidential candidates declined to attend.

"FOX poisons the country with racist propaganda and tries to call it news," said Nas. He caught ColorOfChange.org and MoveOn.org's attention with a new song called Sly Fox, which has lyrics like, "Watch what you watchin', FOX keeps feeding us toxins, Stop sleeping, Start thinking" and "I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth/Not the biased truth/Not the liar's truth/But the highest truth." Nas's new album called Untitled was released last week.

"When FOX talks about lynching the woman who may soon be our First Lady and then refers to this wife and mother as a 'baby mama,' they are maligning not only the Obamas, but Black women and Black people across this country," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "We have over 600,000 signatures, more than half a million people, saying that we won't stand for FOX's racism and hate-mongering."

PETITION DELIVERY EVENT DETAILS:
Fox - Stop the Racist Smears
Who: Hip Hop artist Nas, ColorOfChange.org & MoveOn.org members in New York City Where: FOX Headquarters, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, Manhattan (48th St. between 6th & 7th Aves.) When: Wednesday, July 23rd, 2:00pm What: Nas joins ColorOfChange.org & MoveOn.org members to present over 600,000 petition signatures demanding that FOX stop its racist smears against the Obamas and other Black Americans.

Tagged as: fox, racism, obama, moveon.org, brave new foundation, nas, colorofchange.org, untitled